2. cables
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tube gear vs solid state...cable effectiveness

hi all,

i have a question and im not looking for a debate whether cables make a difference with sound or not. i use semi-high end ($3k and below) cables on my solid state gear (pre,cd,amp,etc.) with exellent results.

i was told by someone who builds tube gear that cables make more of a difference on solid state and are not as effective on tube gear.

i have no experience with tubes but have been thinking of getting into them, and therefore wondering if i should sell some cables off to help fund new tube gear.

your thoughts. thanks in advance.
nineballg
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,803 posts
 
I have found that my tube systems sound different with different cables. My cables cost total per system are probably 1/10 the cost of what you are using, but still I find that copper sounds different than silver, a $150 interconnect sounds different than a $20 interconnect, etc. whether it is tubes or solid state.

Rich
mechans
3,048 posts
 
I agree with the other responses so far, I own primarily tube gear and find that cables are as meaningful as I imagine they could be, with any set up.
I must say that $3K is not "semi" high end thats a lot for a cable. I know there are some that sell for more but still my most expensive cable may be a $1K IC by Cardas, which I bought used for much less.
hifiharv
351 posts
 
Yes, cables remain very important with both SS and Tubes. With tubes though, alot of the annoyances involved with HiFi seem to disappear or at least diminish. Things like only sounding good at 3:00 in the morning, or when the fridge is off. Or sounding bad for days after vacuuming (I'm not kidding)or when computers are running. Tubes can sound so right and likable that these problems vanish or become unimportant. I suspect cables may be less of a "Life or death" decision for good sound with Tubes, but you will still need to tune the system with the proper sympathetic cable choices till you get it just right. Possibly not the same choices that worked with your SS system, but I wouldn't dump your cables till you at least try them with a new setup.
eugene81
270 posts
 
"... cables make more of a difference on solid state and are not as effective on tube gear."

Ridiculous in my experience.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
sub $3k for cable? cable may make a difference on both designs again depending on design, but it has nothing to do with price. the price of cable is only for brand and not for performance. one $5000 cable may sound like cwap vs. cheap radioshack. for performance you should match it to the parameters of the component particularly output impedance characteristics. i'm wired with pro-grade cables and wires that match good my components with total price <$300 for all of them.
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